Mobile devices are starting to be used as inspection tools for conducting real estate inspections. SnapInspect App (www.snapinspect.com) of SnapInspect International LLC and HG Companion software of HomeGauge of Asheville, N.C. (www.internachigauge.com) provide programs that enable mobile devices to be used in real estate inspections. With HG Companion, the user has to transfer the photos and videos to a laptop or desktop computer to create and complete a report. One common problem with both software programs is that they offer fixed inspection checklist or templates. For instance, if you have downloaded a template for a 3 bedroom house and the house you inspect has a 3 bedroom plus a bonus room, you cannot add the bonus room into your inspection because it is not in the template. They also have no floor plans within the system, so it may be confusing to distinguish one bedroom from another. Photos or videos for the bedrooms may easily be mixed up.
Another problem with both software programs is that they do not have the ability to label the videos with displayed text, such as the location where the video was taken. Thus, videos may get misidentified. Yet another problem with the above software program is that their programs allow users to skip taking photos or videos of certain inspection locations or completing information related to a photo or a video. Inspectors may have to return to the inspection site because they failed to take photos or videos of an important location, or because the could not remember the details they needed to add to a photo or video. Finally, a problem with the above software program is they are designed for inspecting a single property. They cannot provide comparisons between the multiple properties inspected. Thus, if you want any statistical data based on multiple properties that were inspected, these two software programs will not provide them.